Subtitled Videos, Un-Subtitled Videos, and Indonesian EFL Students’ Writing Ability

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of viewing subtitled videos and un-subtitled videos on Indonesian EFL students’ writing ability. In order to achieve the purposes, a quasi-experimental study was conducted by involving 90 EFL students in a state university in Indonesia. The students were from three intact classes. The students in Class A (29 students) were asked to write procedure texts after watching subtitled videos; the students in Class B (31 students) were asked to write procedure texts after watching un-subtitled videos; and the students in Class C (30 students) were asked to write procedure texts without watching any video. The study took place for 14 meetings. At the end of the treatment, the students in the three classes were asked to write an essay in English. The results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in the writing ability of the students in the three classes. More particularly, the students who viewed subtitled videos performed a significantly higher level than those who viewed un-subtitled videos and those who did not view any video. In addition, the students who viewed un-subtitled videos performed better than those who did not view any video. This study offers some pedagogical implications focusing on the use of technology in the teaching of EFL writing. Thus, either subtitled videos or un-subtitled videos can be used to facilitate EFL students’ writing ability.